Mumbai, July 22 (IANS) Nine years after the launch of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), India has managed to resolve debt worth more than Rs 26 lakh crore, either directly or indirectly, a new report said on Tuesday.

Out of the total amount, around Rs 12 lakh crore of debt was resolved through about 1,200 cases of stressed borrowers after they were admitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), as per data compiled by Crisil Ratings.

However, a bigger impact of the IBC has been in creating fear among defaulting borrowers, which helped settle nearly 30,000 cases involving Rs 14 lakh crore of debt even before these cases could be formally admitted by the NCLT.

Since its launch in 2016, the IBC has replaced the earlier debtor-friendly system with a creditor-in-control approach.

This major shift has made IBC more successful compared to earlier debt recovery methods like the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Lok Adalats, and SARFAESI.

Data shows that the average recovery under the IBC has been 30-35 per cent, which is much higher than 22 per cent under SARFAESI, 7 per cent under DRT, and just 3 per cent through Lok Adalats.

Experts say that the flexibility given to creditors under IBC — including the power to replace managements and restructure loans — has helped resolve even smaller and mid-sized distressed assets in recent years.

In fact, about 60 per cent of all IBC resolution approvals in the last three years were for smaller cases, although they accounted for only 40 per cent of the total debt.

According to Mohit Makhija, Senior Director at Crisil Ratings, about one-fourth of the total resolved debt since 2016 was handled under IBC.

He said IBC has not only given the highest recovery rates but also contributed to almost half of the total recoveries.

With growing investor interest in infrastructure and manufacturing assets, Makhija believes IBC will continue to be the preferred route for lenders.

–IANS

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